Yangon, Myanmar, 23 November 2020 – A year ago, Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading everyday everything app, introduced GrabFood in Myanmar to deliver hungry eaters their favourite foods right to their doorstep. Over the course of the past 12 months, people in Yangon and Mandalay have come to enjoy the convenience of GrabFood services, with order volume increasing by 24 times since launch. Yet, the more significant impact spurred by GrabFood was how it has helped to digitise and, in some cases, transform the businesses of its food and beverage merchant partners, all of which continue to face numerous challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

GrabFood was launched in Yangon in November 2019 and subsequently in Mandalay in July 2020. Today, GrabFood has on boarded more than 1,500 merchant-partners which enjoy direct access to Grab’s technology platform and tools to help them shift to online sales and expand their visibility. This has been especially important for many F&B establishments which before this, did not have the means to grow their business beyond their current storefront.  

In addition to driving an increase of food orders for its merchant-partners, with average order values growing by 40 percent over the past year, GrabFood has also been able to create work opportunities for hundreds of delivery-partners in two of the country’s largest cities.

“Here at Grab, we recognise that success is not measured in numbers alone, but also by the positive impact we have on peoples’ lives and livelihoods. We launched GrabFood in Myanmar to help offline food merchants come online and better connect with today’s digital consumers, and we could not have imagined how integral our services would become to many people during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also grateful to be able to provide income opportunities to our GrabFood delivery partners during this challenging period, and commend their efforts in bringing meals to peoples’ doorsteps and ensuring service excellence,” said Ko Myat Kaung Min, Head of GrabFood Myanmar.

 GrabFood’s Commitment to Bring Value to F&B Businesses and Improve Livelihoods

Continuing the growth momentum and success of GrabFood in the past year, Grab is invigorated to bring more value to its merchant-partners through various initiatives. One of the initiatives will focus on elevating food hygiene standards among GrabFood merchant-partners, as part of Grab’s wider commitment to ensuring health and safety for everyone using its platform.

Another initiative will see Grab roll out its new payment integration technology in collaboration with CB Bank. The payment integration feature enables Grab to automate payments to GrabFood merchant-partners in less than 24 hours. This means GrabFood merchant-partners will receive revenue generated from GrabFood orders within a day instead of the previous three-week waiting period. With the efficient, automated payments, GrabFood merchant-partners will enjoy improved cash flow, enabling them to better manage their operations.

Through GrabFood, Grab will also continue empowering its more than 1,000 delivery partners in Yangon and Mandalay with better livelihood opportunities. Efforts will continue to provide delivery-partners with training on food handling and hygiene as well as road safety. All GrabFood delivery-partners are covered by Trip Insurance during each GrabFood delivery and are eligible for financial assistance of MMK 200,000 under the Grab Partner Relief Fund should they be diagnosed with COVID‑19 or officially placed into quarantine by the health authorities.

GrabFood First Anniversary Celebration

To celebrate its first anniversary in Myanmar, GrabFood is giving back to its customers and merchant-partners by hosting the country’s first online food festival named “GrabFood Pwal Zay”. The festival, supported by CB Bank and Kirin Ichiban, aims to further promote the adoption of on-demand food delivery orders within the Grab app which has become increasingly popular in recent months.

More than 20 GrabFood merchant-partners will participate in the “GrabFood Pwal Zay” including international chains Lotteria, KOI Bubble Tea, Tealive, PizzaMaru, Ya Kun Cafe alongside local favourites such as YKKO, Rangoon Tea House, SP Bakery, Mein Mein, Miba Ayaik Noodle, Tang Tea, Unique Mandalay Tea Room, Sandar May, Tang Kyaw, Yoe Yar Sushi and many more.

On each day of the festival which will be held from 23 to 30 November, participating GrabFood merchant-partners in Yangon and Mandalay will offer set meals as well as food and beverage items priced at only MMK 1,000, with free delivery included as a part of the promotion. Up to 2,400 orders of the deals can be claimed each day from participating merchant-partners in Yangon, while merchant-partners in Mandalay will offer 1,000 daily deal orders.

Additionally, GrabFood merchant-partners in Yangon and Mandalay will offer “GrabFood 1st Anni Pwal Zay” deals with discounts of up to 50 percent on each day of the festival. These daily deals can be viewed in the GrabFood tab within the Grab app.

Members of the public are encouraged to learn more about the “GrabFood Pwal Zay” through the Grab app or on the Grab Myanmar Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/GrabMM/.